140triguy wrote:
I donât get what people say about a âwide field of visionâ in their goggles. Almost every single body of water Iâve been in,* training or racing, has been in murky water. I could have a mask like the SEALs used in âThe Abyssâ and I still wouldnât be able to see anything under water. Anything I see is in very short intervals while I breathe or sight, and a wide field would make absolutely no difference. I agree that Malmsten Swedish goggles (and their clones and derived versions) are basically all lens. I found a pair of Orca goggles and used those several times in OWS training. In a practical sense, there was no difference in what I âsaw.â Think about this: you should be breathing every stroke cycle in an OWS race or training. Assuming the water is murky, you wonât see much unless youâre breathing or sighting (if youâre smart, youâll be on the toes of someone faster, or keeping a comparable swimmer on your breathing side, so you can sight them and never have to pick up your head to sight). Assume a breathing ratio in a range of once every 1.5 to 2.9 seconds (plug in your own formula for time/25 and # breaths/25). In that very short period, youâre not breathing with your head out for the entire time, so your one eye is out of the water for a fraction of a second. If youâre swimming head up the entire time (âalligator eyes,â âTarzan strokeâ), youâre completely inefficient. I find it hard to imagine that any goggleâs purported advantage in âfieldâ will make any difference at all.
Iâve never been hit in the eyes while wearing Swedish goggles, in racing, training, or meet warm-up. Warm-up at a major pool meet is chaos.
All that said, buy the cheap goggles. These donât have to be Swedish. If you like a gasket (neoprene, silicone, or TPR) there are plenty to choose from under $10. My top recommendations are Swedish (and clones), Dpeedo or Tyr Sprint, Speedo Vanquisher (and clones), and Water Gear Competition I (formerly Hind Compy).
In the past 10 years (age 38-48) Iâve spent about $100 TOTAL on goggles. I used Swedish, as well as TPR and neoprene gaskets. Iâve done well over 8000km in that time, pool and OWS. Iâve never once felt that I needed to spend more to get a âwider field.â Thereâs just no need.
* I swam in the Caribbean on my honeymoon, as well as during a training trip in college. The ONLY time Iâve been in clear open water.I am going to venture a guess that you have sort of swim background (even younger than 38 but maybe not) and it is generally isn't as congested when racing. Originally, learning to swim at 26 and swimming 1:12 I think in first Ironman I can tell you I was in the middle of the pack. So x2 on the wider field of vision being easier for sighting. I am also colorblind and for whatever reason, RDs think that red buoys, up against a green horizon is a great idea for visibility. It isn't. Without a doubt not only do googles like the
Aquasphere Kayenne increase the field of vision but the do it in a way that keep the goggles slim still and they don't require you to life your head as high to actually use that increased vision which at least theoretically should make you faster because your legs won't sink as much. Following the person to the right of you, assuming you are the exact same speed is risky, even in the pro ranks, when that person doesn't know where they are going.
I am a huge cheapy on stuff but goggles isn't one of those places - especially when most people hate swimming. Also, highly recommend swimming in Hawaii. Plenty of stuff to see while swimming.
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